How to Freeze Leftover Pizza Dough: The Best Way to Always Have It Available

Freezing homemade pizza dough is a great idea to always have a ready base for your pizzas without having to prepare it from scratch every time. There are people who purposely make more to then freeze it and use it when needed. In reality, freezing the dough is very simple: just put it in cling film, preferably with baking paper, or in a freezer bag and put it directly in the freezer. There are also some precautions and tricks to get a better result, let's see them together.

How to Freeze Pizza Dough

The best thing would be to prepare it beforehand: make a little extra dough and then freeze it. This is because the best time to freeze dough is after the first rising: this way, when you defrost it, it will only have to rise a second time and will be ready to be rolled out and stuffed. In addition to this reason, there is also a trick given by Gabriele Bonci, a famous Italian baker: use a little rice flour in the dough.

Adding rice flour to pizza dough, especially when freezing, offers several advantages because it helps keep the dough softer and prevents a hard crust from forming during freezing and thawing. This means that your pizza will have a softer and more palatable base. Rice flour absorbs water better and this is a very appealing aspect when talking about "freezing". Its structure is different to traditional flours, with smaller particles and zero gluten content. These characteristics make it ideal for improving the consistency and elasticity of the dough. It also has a completely neutral flavor so it does not alter the taste of the pizza. Our suggestion is to add 10% rice flour to the total weight of the flour.

How to Freeze Leftover Pizza Dough

If, instead, as happens more commonly, you need to freeze a leftover dough, you just need to put the dough in a freezer bag or in a transparent film with baking paper. An interesting tip that we would like to give you is that it could be a good idea to already roll out the dough on a sheet of baking paper, roll it up on itself like a puff pastry and put it in a container or in a bag and then freeze it.

How to Thaw and Defrost Pizza Dough

One last very important note is on how to perfectly defrost pizza dough. Freezing is easy but for an optimal result you also need to defrost well: move the dough from the freezer to the refrigerator about 12 hours before, so the dough does not undergo thermal shock, and then leave it at room temperature in the last few hours before cooking it.

Can You Freeze Pizza After The Second Rise?

Yes, you can absolutely freeze pizza dough after the second rise. Freezing at this stage preserves the dough’s structure, as the cold temperatures halt the yeast activity, meaning the dough won’t continue to rise while frozen. This is a great way to prepare dough in advance without compromising its texture or flavor. Additionally, you can pre-bake your pizza crust and freeze it for later use. After partially baking the crust, allow it to cool completely, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or foil to prevent freezer burn. When you're ready to use it, simply add your toppings and finish baking.